The term “wavefront” can be defined as an imaginary surface joining points of constant phase in a wave propagating through a medium. For light waves, a wavefront can be thought of as a three-dimensional imaginary surface of constant optical path length, orthogonal to a family of rays that emanate from a source of radiation. In terms of shape, a wavefront can be spherical, planar or arbitrarily shaped. Indeed, for a monochromatic wave propagating from a point source through a medium of constant refractive index, a spherically shaped wavefront will be emitted from the source. At large distances from the source, however, the wavefront can be considered to be approximately planar. On the other hand, imperfect optical systems, natural phenomena (e.g. atmospheric turbulence) and many other factors can lead to non-uniform, irregularly shaped wavefronts. For example, a component of an optical system, such as an imperfectly ground lens, may create an aberration which distorts an otherwise uniform (e.g. planar) wavefront.
Heretofore, insofar as monochromatic light is concerned, several types of apparatus for measuring wavefront shape have been developed. For example, methods for measuring phase deviations have been disclosed in conjunction with devices like the so-called “Hartmann-Shack sensor” and in publications such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,702 which issued to Bille for an invention entitled “Device for Mapping Corneal Topography.” An interferometer is another, common type of apparatus that can be used to measure the shape of a wavefront.
In addition to wavefront measuring, devices and methods for wavefront reshaping have been reported. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,707 (hereinafter the '707 patent) which issued to Bille for an invention entitled “Method for Programming an Active Mirror to Mimic a Wavefront” discloses the use of a faceted mirror to reshape a wavefront. U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,707 is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Specific applications disclosed in the '707 patent include the reshaping of a distorted wavefront into a substantially planar wavefront, and vice versa. Moreover, this reshaping can be accomplished for distorted wavefronts in which the depth of the three dimensional wavefront, measured in the direction of light propagation, exceeds one wavelength.
In greater detail, the '707 patent discloses a phase-wrapping technique in which the outputs from a Hartmann-Shack wavefront analyzer are processed to determine a total deviation in phase shift for each of a plurality of contiguous sub-beams in a wavefront. These phase shifts can be measured relative to the phase of corresponding sub-beams in a reference wavefront, such as a plane wavefront. For light having a wavelength, λ, each measured “total deviation” includes a modular “nλ” (also called modular “n2π”) phase shift component and a modulo “λ” (also called modulo 2π) phase shift component. After measuring the total phase shift deviation, the particular modular phase shift for each sub-beam is compensated for by subtracting nλ, (n+1)λ, or (n−1)λ, etc. as appropriate, from the total phase shift of each sub-beam. Each element of the faceted mirror is then adjusted to minimize the modulo λ phase shift deviation of each respective sub-beam to effectively transform a light beam between a distorted wavefront and a plane wavefront.
Although the above-described achievements have been successful in measuring and modifying the wavefronts of monochromatic light, many applications require the use of polychromatic light. For these applications, it may be desirable to control and modify wavefronts in a polychromatic light stream. One such application, by way of example, is the correction of aberrations created by an optical system during the imaging of a multi-colored object. Another exemplary application includes the creation of a polychromatic light stream having controlled wavefront shapes for use in testing the influence of optical aberrations on human vision.
Accordingly, in light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for reshaping the wavefronts of a light stream that contains light of several different wavelengths. Another object of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for reshaping wavefronts in polychromatic light having a three dimensional wavefront depth, measured in the direction of light propagation, that exceeds one wavelength. Still another object of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for shaping polychromatic wavefronts using phase shifting elements which are simple to use, relatively easy to manufacture and comparatively cost effective.